Sliding glass doors have been used for many years as closures in houses, offices, stores and other structures in lieu of swinging doors. Sliding glass doors have the advantage of being completely transparent so that outside scenery can be enjoyed whether or not the doors are open or, if between two interior rooms, so that one can see the activity in the adjacent room at all times. These doors also have the advantage that they do not interfere with the areas adjacent the doors when opened, unlike swinging doors. For these and other reasons, sliding glass doors are very popular in modern homes and offices.
Sliding glass doors have also been popular with burglars and other intruders. The latches for these doors are often the weakest link in the protective systems of houses or other structures, and thus burglars and other intruders frequently gain unauthorized entry through these sliding glass doors. Most latches that the sliding glass doors are equipped with when sold in retail stores can be easily opened from the outside by a burglar, indeed, some of these latches are so easily opened from the outside that they can be unlocked using a credit card or other similar item by sliding the credit card up in the gap between the door and the door frame.
In view of the above, many supplemental protective devices have been constructed to be used in conjunction with a sliding glass door which block the path of the sliding door and thus deter unauthorized entries. These devices employ rods that are placed between the edge of one sliding door and the side of the door frame across the width of the second glass door, within the plane of the door, to prevent the door from being slid open.
Such devices do add a measure of protection against break-ins. However, a determined burglar can usually still find a way to illegally enter a room even when these devices are employed. This entry can be gained by breaking or drilling a small hole in the glass and unlatching the rod-like device.
From the above, it is obvious that there is a need in the art for a security latch assembly, that can be employed with sliding glass doors, that has a higher ability to prevent unauthorized entries through the same than devices currently employed.
This invention fulfills this need, along with many other needs apparent to those skilled in the art once given the following disclosure: